News:

"There is a terrible desperation to the increasingly pathetic rationalizations from the climate denial camp. This comes as no surprise if you take the long view; every single undone paradigm in history has died kicking and screaming, and our current petroleum paradigm 🐉🦕🦖 is no different. The trick here is trying to figure out how we all make it to the new ⚡ paradigm without dying ☠️ right along with the old one, kicking, screaming or otherwise." - William Rivers Pitt

Letter from Beijing: Pollution turns out to be great leveler in China’s capital

January 17

By Stuart Leavenworth

McClatchy Foreign Staff

BEIJING — Even before the sun started to rise Thursday over this megalopolis of 21 million people, I could sense it would be a miserable lung day. The apartment where my wife and I were staying seemed smoky – even though we don’t smoke. Out the window, the lights from nearby skyscrapers were enveloped in a gray cloud.

When the sun rose, it was obvious – Beijing’s “airpocalypse” had returned. I could barely see the 4th Ring Road, the freeway that hums with cars and trucks just 100 yards from our building. Checking an app, I saw that particulate levels in Beijing had soared above 670 micrograms per cubic meter, or about 26 times higher than the World Health Organization considers safe.

China has many challenges, but air pollution is one that, if left unaddressed, will surely trip up its economic growth, kill its people and derail the Communist Party’s policy of “opening up” to the world. Tourism in Beijing has dropped from a year ago, at least partly because of worldwide publicity about smog. A recent study estimated that the average life expectancy in North China had dropped by 5.5 years because of air pollution generated by coal power production.

Last year, Beijing-like bouts of smog spread across the eastern and northern parts of the country, smothering cities such as Shanghai, whose residents thought they were immune. Wealthy Chinese now regularly schedule “lung-cleaning trips,” with Thailand’s Phuket Island and Indonesia’s Bali as top destinations, according to Chinese tourism authorities.

It is not as if China doesn’t recognize the threat. The government says it has pledged to spend $1.7 billion yuan ($281 million) by 2017 to tackle air pollution. Local governments have closed factories, fined polluters and even closed freeways on days when the smog is dangerous or “beyond index.”

The official position is that the problem is caused primarily by weather inversions, auto emissions and coal burning (industrial and residential), and all that is true. Yet as a country where there is little rule of law, China has no comprehensive system of monitoring, permitting and regulating sources of air pollution. Unlike most environmental agencies in the United States, it can’t track a pollution problem back to its source or sources and correct it.

On Thursday, I noticed the recommendation by the U.S. Embassy in China that people stay indoors and avoid any strenuous activity. But I didn’t have that option, and neither did millions of other working people here. I had interviews lined up on stories, and properties to inspect in our search for a permanent apartment. And so I set forth to the subway, wearing my N-95 face mask for the first time during our first week in Beijing.

By the time I reached the central business district and started exiting the subway, I felt dizzy. I grabbed the handrail to steady myself. I drank some water, felt better and then walked a few blocks to where I was meeting my assistant, Tiantian. By then, my mask was already speckled with soot.

As the day went on, the pollution decreased, but I could feel the effects of the cumulative exposure. My chest felt heavy, my throat was raspy and my nose was runny all afternoon. I walked through Ritan Park, where elegant older women were dancing, some wearing face masks.

I have little doubt that China will eventually clean up its air, and little doubt the government could accelerate the cleanup with a sustained commitment.

Yet China and elements of its state-controlled media still suffer from denial when it comes to air pollution. Last month, during a major smog bout outside of Beijing, a story on the website of China Central Television listed five benefits of the air pollution problem:

1. It unifies the Chinese people.

2. It makes China more equal.

3. It raises citizen awareness of the cost of China’s economic development.

4. It makes people funnier.

5. It makes people more knowledgeable (of things like meteorology and the English word haze).

Agelbert NOTE: The fossil fuelers in China have the same problem they have all over the world; they CANNOT envision a world where GDP growth DOESN'T track fossil fuel burning growth. With that attitude, the only GROWTH industries they are going to get are CANCER treatment and pollution filtering devices.

China's leaders are willfully blinding themselves simply because they BELIEVE in the "glory" of predatory capitalism and KNOW GOD DAMNED GOOD AND WELL that the smog will kill the poor and middle class who can't afford protection FIRST. This is EXTERNALIZING costs on STEROIDS. It is DIVIDING the people, not "unifying" them.

They will learn, as we will, the HARD way. Reality is a **** for these ORWELLIAN circular logic bull**** artists. Fossil fuels are POISON, not prosperity. But the death worshippers at Wall Street are probably salivating at all the profits to be had from the face mask and anti-pollution filtration equipment on the cars and houses of the wealthy! After, all, THEY are the ony ones that COUNT because THE RICH, being such HARD WORKING (i.e. money grabbing) folks, can afford the COMFORT (i.e. survival of the "fittest" -> meanest, cruelest, conscience free bastards) that fossil fuel caused GDP GROWTH (i.e. pollution poisons) REQUIRES.

January 2015 MKing Corporation outdoor clothing style catalog for the Chinese people that COUNT *

*Raising visor in photo is for demonstration purposes only and is not recommended outdoors. Raising visor outdoors may result in coverage cancellation of the Executive Golden Parachute Viper Cradle to Grave Comprehensive Total Coverage Health Insurance Plan.

Our “disposable culture” has left a trail of destruction, in terms of both environmental and human impact. There is no one single solution to the waste problem. But you can do your part by taking steps to reduce your waste, recycle, and repurpose what you can. The average American produces 4.5 pounds of garbage each and every day. Surely, most people can find ways to cut that down considerably, without going through too much trouble. Here are some suggestions to get you started:

•Compost your food scraps and yard waste: A simple bin in your backyard can greatly cut down on your landfill contributions while rewarding you with a natural fertilizer for your soil. See “Composting Made Easy—Even for City Dwellers” to learn more.

•Reduce plastic use: Purchase products that are not made from or packaged in plastic. Use reusable shopping bags for groceries. Bring your own mug when indulging in a coffee drink — and skip the lid and the straw. Bring drinking water from home in glass water bottles, instead of buying bottled water. Store foods in the freezer in glass mason jars as opposed to plastic bags. Take your own leftover container to restaurants. Request no plastic wrap on your newspaper and dry cleaning. These are just a few ideas — I’m sure you can think of more.

•Recycle and repurpose what you can:Take care to recycle and repurpose products whenever possible. This includes separating paper, glass, and plastic for recycling. Give clothes or gently used household items to charities, and frequent second-hand stores instead of buying new. Make use of online sites like Freecycle.org that allow you to give products you no longer need away to others instead of throwing them away.

Here are some ideas for what to do with more hard-to-recycle items:

◦Appliances: Salvation Army or the Steel Recycling Institute can help you out with these (see recycle-steel.org).

Mushrooms Used for Bioremediation to Clean Pesticides From Oregon Waterways

Beyond Pesticides | January 23, 2014 3:15 pm

Putting ideas into action, an Oregon-based restoration nonprofit group, Ocean Blue Project, is harnessing the power of mushrooms to clean up pesticides and other pollutants that plague Oregon and national waterways. Yes, mushrooms.Pleurotus ostreatus, the oyster mushroom is edible. These oyster mushroom have the filtering potential to break down oil, pesticides and harmful bacteria.

The test project launched Sunday, Jan. 19 on the banks of Sequoia Creek, a tributary to the Willamette River. Using recycled burlap bags filled with used coffee grounds, straw and yellow oyster mushroom spawn, the purpose of the unusual potpourri will be to harness the extremely effective filtering capabilities of mycelium.

A kind of root system for fungi, mycelium demonstrate a wide variety of biological powers, from breaking down oil, pesticides and harmful bacteria to acting as natural pesticides against some of the most problematic pests.

Paul Stamets, a leading expert on the power of mushrooms and former speaker at Beyond Pesticides’ National Pesticide Forum in 2006, has a word for the natural properties of fungi to fight human-made pollution: mycorestoration. As Mr. Stamets explained to Discover Magazine in 2013, “Oyster mushrooms, for example, can digest the complex hydrocarbons in wood, so they can also be used to break down petroleum byproducts. Garden Giants use their mycelia to trap and eat bacteria, so they can filter E. coli from agricultural runoff.”

Richard Arterbury, president of the Ocean Blue Project, agrees. Mr. Arterbury explained to reporters at Corvallis Gazette-Times, that the technique could potentially be a low-cost way to use biologic processes to reduce pollution in waterways. Mr. Arterbury thinks the project has huge potential. “If you put enough of these bags by the Willamette River it could potentially change the river,” he said.

Pesticides in Water

And change is needed not just in Oregon. Waterways in the U.S. are increasingly imperiled from various agents, including agricultural and industrial discharges, nutrient loading (nitrogen and phosphorus), and biological agents such as pathogens. Pesticides discharged into our nation’s rivers, lakes and streams can harm or kill fish and amphibians.

These toxicants have the potential to accumulate in the fish we eat and the water we drink. As pesticide use escalates and waterways and drinking water become increasingly polluted with unregulated contaminants like pesticides and other toxicants, low-cost and natural alternatives for restoring waterways are desperately needed.

Discussing innovative new practices and alternatives to address pesticide contamination will be just one of the many exciting topics at this year’s 32nd National Pesticide Forum, Advancing Sustainable Communities: People, Pollinators and Practices. Please join Beyond Pesticides, Northwest Center for Alternatives to Pesticides and Portland State University’s Institute for Sustainable Solutions April 11-12, 2014 in Portland, OR, to help communities everywhere make strides in reducing pesticides and moving communities everywhere towards a more sustainable future.

Visit EcoWatch’s BIODIVERSITY and WATER pages for more related news on this topic.

Little Elise wanted to see vines grow from a potato, but after trying for three weeks, she figured something was wrong. Then she experimented with an organic potato. Watch out!

This sweet yet profound video is perfect for sending around to anyone who still thinks conventionally grown produce is REAL food.

Video (2:32)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=exBEFCiWyW0&feature=player_embeddedThis Video should be FRONT PAGE NEWS all over the internet and the WORLD!WHY? Because it has ALL the ingredients of TRUTH from someone who is innocent and is merely looking out for human society with science, not agenda based, methodology to satisfy her curiosity.

Her observations then confirm one more link in the predatory capitalist, conscience free, Big Ag MO that makes the agricultural profit generating COMMODITY (instead of what it's supposed to be - a human health improving tuber) a scourge on human health and a HIGH YIELD - LOW NUTRITION - CHEMICALLY LACED - CROP (i.e. heavier because it forces the potato to put all its energy into starch instead of vines ).

Air Force aircraft returned from Vietnam identified as postwar source of Agent Orange contamination

From 1971-1982 Air Force reservists, who flew in about 34 dioxin-contaminated aircraft used to spray Agent Orange and returned to the US following discontinuation of the herbicide spraying operations in the Vietnam War, were exposed greater levels of dioxin than previously acknowledged, according to a study published today in Environmental Research.

"These findings are important because they describe a previously unrecognized source of exposure to dioxin that has health significance to those who engaged in the transport work using these aircraft," says lead investigator Peter A. Lurker, PhD, PE, CIH, an environmental engineer with many years of experience evaluating environmental exposures in the Air Force.

During the Vietnam War, in an operation known as "Operation Ranch Hand," approximately 20 million gallons of herbicides, including around 10.5 million gallons of dioxin-contaminated Agent Orange, were sprayed by about 34 C-123 aircraft. These aircraft were subsequently returned to the US and were used by Air Force reserve units between 1971 and 1982 for transport operations. After many years without monitoring, tests revealed the presence of dioxin (also known as TCDD). All but three of the aircraft were smelted down in 2009.

The Air Force and Department of Veterans Affairs have previously denied benefits to these crew members. Current policies stipulate that "non-biologically available dried residues" of chemical herbicides and dioxin would not have led to meaningful exposures to flight crew and maintenance personnel, who are therefore ineligible for Agent Orange-related benefits or medical examinations and treatment.

Researchers estimated dioxin body burden using modeling algorithms developed by the US Army and data derived from surface wipe samples collected from aircraft used in Operation Ranch Hand. They compared estimates with available guidelines and standards and discuss the implications with respect to current Air Force and VA policies.

These models suggest that the potential for dioxin exposure to personnel working in the aircraft post-Vietnam is greater than previously believed and that inhalation, ingestion, and skin absorption were likely to have occurred during post-Vietnam use of the aircraft by aircrew and maintenance staff. The estimated dermal and oral exposure exceeded US standards. The estimated airborne contamination exceeded the only available (German) standard.

"Our findings, the results of three different modelling approaches, contrast with Air Force and VA conclusions and policies," concludes senior author Jeanne Mager Stellman, PhD, Professor Emerita of Health Policy and Management at the Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, New York. "The VA concept of a 'dried residue' that is biologically unavailable is not consistent with widely accepted theories of the behavior of surface residues. Aircraft occupants would have been exposed to airborne dioxin-contaminated dust as well as come into direct skin contact, and our models show that the level of exposure is likely to have exceeded several available exposure guidelines."